


Edgar's GPS

by Tuzilla



Category: General - Fandom, Twilight Zone
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 17:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16623521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tuzilla/pseuds/Tuzilla
Summary: Edgar Thimbell is given a GPS and learns to use it find his destination.





	Edgar's GPS

Edgar Thimbell grew up and learned to drive in the days before GPSs. He learned to find things the old-fashioned way…using memory, maps and landmarks. He could drive clear across the country with just a handful of directions straight to his destination. That was the way it was done back in the day.

“Get on 27 North and go to 46 East. Follow that through St. Louis to Colbern Road and go north to Busby…”

Or “Go down Dempsey Road until you see a Sinclair Station on the right. Turn left and go until you pass a big pond on the left. The house is the…”

However, as Edgar started getting older, his memory was starting to slip and betray him on occasion. He had never considered purchasing a GPS, but when he was given one as a gift he was delighted.

It took him a few days of practice, but before long he was navigating the highways and roads with greater precision than ever. He used it to get everywhere, even places he knew by heart. The most useful part was getting to places in the big city. He was a country boy and never did get the hang of all of the streets and avenues in the city. The only thing that could have made the GPS better was if it could parallel park his car for him. He never had figured that crazy parallel parking thing out.

Today started out like just another ordinary day. He got up, took a shower and got dressed. He made himself some bacon and eggs accompanied by whole wheat toast, coffee …black, thank you very much…and some tomato juice. Edie used to make his breakfast for him, but she had been gone for over two years, now. He missed her in as many ways as it was possible after 47 years of marriage to his high school sweetheart.

After cleaning up his breakfast dishes, he headed out to his old pickup. He needed to do a few things this morning. The first was a stop at the hardware to get a new wick for his humidifier. Colder weather was coming and he wanted it ready for winter. Next, he would go to the tractor store over in Berrington to get oil and a filter for his tractor. It was going to need an oil change before spring and it was better to do it now than in his drafty pole barn during the cold of winter. 

Next, he would go to lunch at the diner In Berrington. He liked their hot beef sandwich, but only got to enjoy it on his rare trips there, usually related to the tractor store. His next stop would be the grocery store to pick up a few odds and ends, and a bouquet for Edie’s grave. He faithful placed a new one there each month. Then he would go home.

This trip was going to be a bit different than normal. He was going to try a GPS trick a friend showed him yesterday. He started loading in all of his destinations linked together as via points. If he did it correctly, the GPS would guide him to his first point, then it would seamlessly continue on to the rest of them without needing to be touched.

Once he had loaded in the trip, he started his truck and headed out onto the road. The GPS started him off in the direction of Bessman’s Hardware to get his humidifier wick. Ten minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of the hardware as the GPS said, “You have reached your destination”. It then kicked over to his next destination, Moorehead’s Tractor Supply in Berrington.

Edgar parked and went into the hardware. He had a lengthy conversation about nothing in particular with John before leaving with the new wick. He had known John since school, so they always had time to reminisce and to B.S. about stuff when he stopped in for something.

When he got back into his truck the GPS picked up where it had left off. Thirty minutes later the GPS said, “You have reached your destination”. He parked and walked into the tractor store getting the oil and filter. Edgar was always diligent about oil changes and general maintenance on his power equipment. Everything from his tractor to his truck to his chainsaw, etc. ran like they were new, even though some of them were on the far side of thirty years old.

After a conversation about this and that with Bob, the manager, he walked back out to his truck. He put the oil and filter in the bed of the pickup next to the wick. He was not worried about anyone taking them out in these parts. 

From there, the GPS led him about a quarter mile to the Berrington Diner. He could see the diner’s red neon sign from the driveway of the tractor store when he pulled out onto the road. But that did not matter. The GPS had him covered. A minute later the GPS announced, “You have reached your destination.”

When Edgar walked into the diner he was immediately greeted by Maggie. She had been the waitress there since before anyone could remember.

“Hot Roast Beef, Edgar?” she asked as she sat down a glass of ice water and a cup of black coffee.

“Yes. How’d you know?” he asked with a bit of a smile.

“Been serving you one about once or twice a month since before my kids were born,” she replied with a laugh. 

“I didn’t realize I was that predictable,” he laughed.

Maggie turned back toward the kitchen window and hollered at the cook. “Hot Roast Beef, extra sloppy.”

Maggie and Edgar chit chatted while the cook prepared his lunch. She asked him how he was getting along. He told her he was doing okay, which was always a lie when he said it. 

When the food was ready she served it to him and refilled his coffee. He took his time, enjoying a meal where he would not have to clean up afterward. When he appeared finished, Maggie walked back over from behind the counter.

“I’ve got apple, blueberry and lemon, today,” she said, referring to the pies on the shelf.

“Lemon sounds good,” said Edgar. “Apple always sounds good. It is my favorite. But I’ve never had a piece of apple pie that can match my Edie’s. I can’t order it anymore.”

Maggie brought him a generous slice of lemon meringue along with another refill of his coffee. He ate it and pulled out his wallet.

“I’ve got to get moving. I still need to buy groceries and stop by to see Edie.”

Maggie gave him the check. He paid it along with a couple bucks for the tip and headed back out to his truck.

The GPS already had him pointed at the grocery store as he pulled out. Again, he could almost see it from the diner. He made it there in little more than a minute.

When he came out of the store he was flanked by a local boy pushing a cart with three bags groceries. The boy put them in the back of the truck with the rest. He took the bouquet of flowers and sat it on the seat in the truck cab. He did not want the wind messing them up before he got to the cemetery.

The GPS pointed him at the cemetery. It was a mile past his house on Burton Lake Road. He stopped at his house and put the groceries inside. He did not want things that needed to be in the refrigerator to get warm before he returned from the cemetery. He then got back into his truck and pulled out to go see Edie.

The GPS led him right to the cemetery. “You have reached your final destination,” it said in recognition that this was the last stop he had programmed in. And it ‘was’ his final destination. They caretaker found his body on the ground next to Edie’s grave. He was still holding the bouquet as he laid there.


End file.
